Whitecaps FC Reserves fall to UBC Thunderbirds

March 14, 20133:15 PM PDT

Sandy Beeson

VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC Reserves fell to a 3-0 defeat against UBC Thunderbirds at a rain-soaked Thunderbird Stadium on Thursday afternoon. UBC were led by Whitecaps FC Residency graduates Gagandeep Dosanjh, Navid Mashinchi and William Hyde, as well as 2012 'Caps PDL player Reynold Stewart and former Prospects player Marco Visintin.

Two first-half goals put UBC in command before a third on 90 minutes sealed the match. Whitecaps FC played the final 14 minutes with 10 men as Tommy Heinemann saw a straight red for a clash in the 76th minute.

Coach Martin Rennie started a largely untested lineup with 2013 MLS SuperDraft picks Erik Hurtado and Kekuta Manneh getting a chance to impress. Centre back Johnny Leveron also saw a start following his arrival in Vancouver alongside Adam Clement, who finalized his move to Whitecaps FC earlier in the day.

After a quiet start to the match, UBC opened the scoring on 16 minutes with former Whitecaps FC Residency products Dosanjh and Mashinchi combining for the Thunderbirds as Dosanjh broke down the left and unselfishly cut the ball across for Mashinchi to finish past Brad Knighton.

After going a goal behind, Whitecaps FC rallied back and came close to leveling the scores when Camilo found space on the edge of the area and narrowly bent his effort wide of the post in the 19th minute. Two minutes later, Corey Hertzog made a run into the area and bundled the ball through to Matt Watson who was denied by a smothering stop from Luke O’Shea in goal for the Thunderbirds.

UBC doubled their lead with an impressive solo effort in the 25th minute as Sean Haley found the ball in the area and danced his way through several challenges before coolly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner past a diving Knighton.

The teams went into the break with UBC leading 2-0 and it was the home side who took the initiative at the beginning of the second period as well. Five minutes after the break Camilo lost possession in the 'Caps half and Dosanjh beat Leveron to the loose ball but his shot was well saved by Knighton.

Whitecaps FC almost got a goal back in the 55th minute as a deep corner found Clement in the box, whose header was cleared off the line only as far as Leveron. The Honduran international’s first time strike was then blocked off the line and cleared to safety.

With just over 20 minutes remaining, Watson found space in the UBC half and drove forward before unleashing a powerful shot which struck the near post before cannoning away to a UBC defender to clear.

The result was effectively decided in the 76th minute as Heinemann, on as a substitute, received his marching orders after being sent off for clash with William Hyde.

UBC sealed the win in the 90th minute as substitute Tyler Mertens struck a fierce shot through a crowded penalty area that deflected off Greg Smith to wrong foot Knighton and roll into the far corner to make the final score 3-0.

Whitecaps FC Reserves now head to Vancouver Island to take on the University of Victoria Vikes this Saturday, March 16 with kickoff at 1 p.m. PT at Centennial Stadium in Victoria, BC.